Ya / Todavía... yet/already??

Question

Hello everybody!

I've got a question concerning "ya/todavía." So far I've kept it in my mind the following way:

YA: "already/anymore"; una cosa que puede ocurrir

TODAVíA: "still/yet"; todavá no ha occurido pero creemos que es posible.

But if I've got the following now...

"Ya has hecho tu tarea?" - Have you already done your homework? "Have you done your homework yet?" - Ya has hecho tu tarea?

I would pick "ya" for both "yet" and "already," in those two cases. Am I wrong? "Have you done your homework yet" implies that the one who asks the question believes the other person has not yet done their homework, right? (No native English speaker, this is why I'm a little confused.)

Answer 1

¿Has hecho ya la tarea? - already.

¿Has hecho la tarea todavía? - yet.

I agree with Jeezzle that the first has no strong implication about the answer (One might suggest that there is an implied hope that the answer would be "yes" but the question is, essentially neutral).

I wouldn't usually say the second. Make it "¿No has hecho la tarea todavía?" (suggesting impatience [and that the homework has not been completed]) and it sounds entirely normal to me. In a similar vein, "¿Estás todavía haciendo la tarea?" (suggesting impatience for work not completed) also sounds very natural.

Well said. - jeezzle, Oct 31, 2011

So, generally I can say: YA means already/anymore... "ya has hecho tu tarea - ya has preparado la cena - ya has limpiado el baño?" are all questions in which I ask "have you ALREADY...?" and when I use TODAVÍA, I use YET. - rotersternxx, Oct 31, 2011

Answer 2

This is how I would see it / say it.

¿Has hecho ya la tarea? - already.

¿Has hecho la tarea todavía? - yet.

"Have you done your homework yet" implies that the one who asks the question believes the other person has not yet done their homework, right?

Not true. There is no implication it is just a question, maybe yes, maybe no.

Thank you! - rotersternxx, Oct 31, 2011